Château de la Bastie d'Urfé

La Bastie d'Urfe is a castle of Forez (Saint Etienne le Molard Loire), open to visitors. It is the place of entertainment under the summer Nights Built d'Urfe and the national Museum Night. He was formerly inhabited by Honore d'Urfe, author of L'Astrée. A monastic barn located on the banks of the Lignon by the monks of the priory Champdieu is causing the area of Built in the eleventh century). She then became a fortified house with a drawbridge and moat. The Urfé family, descended from his mountain fortress of Cornes d'Urfé to Champoly, near Saint-Just-in-Bridge, moved to the Built in the thirteenth century).

Erected in the fifteenth century, the family mansion of La Bastie, a building originally medieval style has subsequently been transformed by Claude d'Urfé (1501-1558), Ambassador Francis in Rome for the Council of Trent , then governor of the Dauphin. It was inspired by his visits to Italy and achievements from 1535 to arrange royal his home into a jewel of Renaissance Italian and French (new art of the sixteenth century) and become the flagship of the Drill. Claude d'Urfe wanted to express through architecture and decorations of the Built, different ideas: his love for his wife, his passion for the arts and for his knowledge and philosophical thought. He ordered to great artists to embellish.

Located next to the Drill Lignon, this is Honore d'Urfe, grand-son of Claude, spent part of his youth in this castle and wrote L'Astrée, first novel River of French literature. Moreover, we find real locations around the castle in this book: Honore d'Urfe placed the Built and around the center of his novel. Can be found from the windows of this house a framework suggested by the writer: the grove, the banks of the Lignon, Monts du Soir and Drill. In the park, the Fountain of Truth of Love remains, similar to Adamas had pitched by Celadon.